Month: March 2021

This week in the best new pop music saw some exciting releases from some big pop stars. Demi Lovato released her radically honest track “Dancing With The Devil,” Taylor Swift teamed up with country star Maren Morris, and Justin Bieber dropped a track with heavy-hitter DaBaby.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up all the best new pop music. Listen up.

Demi Lovato — “Dancing With The Devil”

Demi Lovato has been through a lot through her career. She’s struggled with addiction and an eating disorder, among other things, and recently reveled that she suffered multiple strokes after overdosing in 2018. She details all these hardships and heartbreak in her anticipated track “Dancing With The Devil,” which features Lovato’s vulnerable lyrics over a jazzy beat.

Taylor Swift — “You All Over Me” Feat. Maren Morris

Taylor Swift is currently rerecording all of her music after a record label deal went awry. That means she’s also able to share some previously unheard tracks that she recorded during her past album cycles. This week, Swift teamed up with country star Maren Morris to share the gentle tune “You All Over Me,” which was originally recorded at the same time as her Fearless album.

Justin Bieber — “Know No Better” Feat. DaBaby

Justin Bieber may have released his swooning album Justice last week, but he didn’t stop there. The singer followed-up the release with a deluxe version of the album, which boasted six new star-studded tracks, including the snappy “Know No Better” with DaBaby.

Julia Michaels — “All Your Exes”

On the heels of her appearance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, Julia Michaels served up the jealousy-busting anthem “All Your Exes,” where she sings of wishing to live in a world where her partner’s exes didn’t exist. “I hope that you love this song in all it’s satirical glory mixed in with a little truth,” she wrote alongside its release.

Studio Killers — “Jenny” Feat. Kim Petras

Virtual band Studio Killers recent saw an uptick in popularity thanks to TikTok. Breathing new life into their 2013 track “Jenny” this week, Studio Killers tapped pop singer Kim Petras to lend her bubbly vocals on an updated version of the single.

Alaina Castillo — “Indica”

Alaina Castillo is currently gearing up for her debut LP, and while she makes fans wait for more information about the full-length release, the singer shared her chilled-out track “Indica.” “’Indica’ is about escaping into an alternate reality,” Castillo said about the flowing single. “I want it to be a reset button that puts you in a different universe once you’ve listened to it.”

Karol G — “El Makinon” Feat. Mariah Angeliq

After serving up several hits last year, Karol G released her anticipated third studio album KG0516, featuring the rhythmic single “El Makinon.” About her LP, Karol G said: “I experimented a lot with different sounds, genres and unique vibes. It’s definitely something that hasn’t been heard before from me and the songs are all a representation of who I am today as a person and an artist.”

Benny Blanco — “Unlearn” Feat. Gracie Abrams

Following his work on Justin Bieber’s hit single “Lonely,” Benny Blanco returns to share Friends Keep Secrets 2, a star-studded album that features collaborators like Omar Apollo, Halsey, Ty Dolla Sign, and more. It also boasts his down tempo track “Unlearn,” which offers an open space for songwriter Gracie Abrams to debut her tender and moving vocals.

Ali Gatie — “Do You Believe” Feat. Marshmello

After making a name for himself with his debut 2019 project You, Ali Gatie has now shared his anticipated soulful EP The Idea Of Her. The 10-track effort includes several captivating tracks, including his Marshmello collaboration “Do You Believe,” which Gatie says is “about love as a whole—the type of love that takes a day to happen and the type of heartbreak that takes years to recover from.”

UMI — “Introspection Remiagined”

Fans fell in love with UMI’s melodic musings when she released her EP Introspection in 2020. But this week, she completely reworked each track to further lean into her R&B sensibilities. “I’m really letting myself sing for the first time,” she said about the reworked project.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s been just a few months since Jazmine Sullivan returned to release her critically acclaimed album Heaux Tales, which detailed all that the singer learned about herself in the six years since her last record. Continuing to share her new music, Sullivan brought her soulful track “Pick Up Your Feelings” to a captivating performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Joined by a full band, Sullivan belted out each lyric with candor while showcasing her powerful vocal range. Her performance follows a busy couple of months for the singer. Not only is she on the heels of her Heaux Tales release, but Sullivan was also invited to deliver the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl game.

Ahead of her late-night performance, Sullivan sat down with Uproxx for a conversation about all she learned while recording Heaux Tales. Sullivan said the process helped her understand that she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders as a woman:

“Especially as a woman, because we feel like we have to do everything perfectly and just be perfect. We have the world on our shoulders normally anyway so we feel like we have to live up to a certain standard and, as a woman growing up, I always felt that way. This process and making the project helped me to do that by listening to the tales of other women, my girlfriends, and older women. And, just knowing that we’re human and we don’t have to be perfect and just allow ourselves to figure things out.”

Watch Sullivan perform “Pick Up Your Feelings” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! above.

Heaux Tales is out now via RCA. Get it here.

Angel Olsen originally envisioned her two most recent albums, 2019’s All Mirrors and 2020’s Whole New Mess, as one double album. That didn’t end up happening, but now the two projects will be brought together under one umbrella on a new box set, Song Of The Lark And Other Far Memories, which is set for release on May 7.

The set which also features a 40-page book and a collection of bonus tracks titled Far Memory. Among the bonus tracks are a cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This,” a Mark Ronson remix of “New Love Cassette,” and a new song called “It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess),” an alternate version of “Whole New Mess” that was recorded during the All Mirrors sessions. Olsen shared the latter track today.

Listen to “It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess)” above and check out Song Of The Lark And Other Far Memories art and tracklist below.

All Mirrors
1. “Lark”
2. “All Mirrors”
3. “Too Easy”
4. “New Love Cassette”
5. “Spring”
6. “What It Is”
7. “Impasse”
8. “Tonight”
9. “Summer”
10. “Endgame”
11. “Chance”

Whole New Mess
1. “Whole New Mess”
2. “Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)”
3. “(New Love) Cassette”
4. “(We Are All Mirrors)”
5. “(Summer Song)”
6. “Waving, Smiling”
7. “Tonight (Without You)”
8. “Lark Song”
9. “Impasse (Workin’ For The Name)”
10. “Chance (Forever Love)”
11. “What It Is (What It Is)”

Far Memory
1. “All Mirrors (Johnny Jewel Remix)”
2. “New Love Cassette (Mark Ronson Remix)”
3. “More Than This”
4. “Smaller”
5. “It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess)”
6. “Alive and Dying (Waving, Smiling)”

Song Of The Lark And Other Far Memories is out 5/7 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.

QAnon-loving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene recently attempted to distance herself from her most infamous conspiracy theories (like ridiculously claiming that Jewish space lasers causing wildfires), but not many people are buying it. She’s been banished from congressional committees, and CrossFit has tellingly denied any affiliation with her because, yeah, that’s totally self-explanatory. No one wants MTG to taint their brand with her rhetoric, yet she persists with even more bonkers theories each day, including what she’s ranting about in her crusade against vaccine passports.

Greene’s of the far-right opinion that vaccine passports shouldn’t exist for a few reasons. They’re steamed about certain states’ voter ID laws and are creating a false equivalency between those laws and a supposed double-standard with the mere idea of vaccine passports. Even more than that, Greene appears to be convinced that such a “passport” is actually “Biden’s Mark of the Beast.” As wacky as it sounds, Greene’s sticking with this argument. “They are actually talking about people’s ability to buy and sell linked to the vaccine passport,” she tweeted. “They might as well call it Biden’s Mark of the Beast.” She’s followed this up with several more tweets, including her insistence that “We WILL NOT COMPLY with Biden’s vaccine ‘passports’!”

The freshman congresswoman recorded a video (via RightWingWatch) to this effect and accused companies who require workers to be vaccinated of “corporate communism.”

Greene never seems to run out of energy. She’s been tweeting on the subject all day, and to paste them all here would be redundant, but here’s another silly leap in logic from her. She’s somehow trying to paint pro-choice Democrats as evil because they want to drop “my body my choice” while urging people to get vaccinated. This lady is the master of mixing-and-matching unrelated issues.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

When asked about how he’s been handling the last year of pandemic, Sacramento rapper Caleborate paraphrases Bruce Lee: “What I’ve been doing to keep things all together is just being like water.” The quote, which implores the listener to be flexible, malleable, and to go with the flow, aptly describes Caleborate’s music style as well. Although his new album, Light Hit My Skin, is ostensibly a hip-hop album, it’s also a genre-fluid affair that allows Caleborate to transform according to his whims and needs of the lush production. And yet, while water can fill a container or run like a river, it remains water — that’s a lesson Caleborate puts into practice here, as well.

So, while he tackles straightforward, storytelling rap on “Contact” with fellow indie rap stalwart Kota The Friend, he also spends several of the interludes — titled “Light 001,” “Light 002,” and “Light 003” — vocalizing like a praise leader on Sunday morning. He calls these his favorite tracks on the album. He demonstrates his versatility throughout; there’s the house-inspired, synth-pop experiment “Homecoming” with Duckwrth, the soft-rock ballad “Untitled (Hit Record),” and the post-hyphy intro “Cliquot Shower.” Each emanates authenticity — there’s no major label-mandated push for algorithmic ambivalence. Instead, Caleborate is like the titular light on his skin — a full spectrum of wavelengths and colors — all of them are not always visible, but they are the same beam of light.

Over the phone with Uproxx, Caleborate reflects on his unique artistic philosophy, other lessons he’s learned over the past year, and questions why, with such a multifaceted array of lights to choose from, mainstream hip-hop continues to constrain itself to just a few shades of red.

What have you been doing over the last year of quarantine?

I’ve been doing some Caleb work, some Caleborate work, some Mr. Parker work, you know what I mean. All different facets of me. Some work as a brother, as a son, as a businessman.

I’ve had a lot of time to reconnect with my family because before COVID and everything popped off, I was really planning to move to LA. My manager and I were about to move in together, he had found an apartment. We literally had gone to go see it the day before I came back to live in the Bay with my mom.

COVID kicked off right in March, so I ended up staying in the Bay. My manager ended up staying where he was located out in Pennsylvania. My workflow changed drastically. My plans changed drastically. Performances: Gone. And certain things that I had going in process for the album shifted up. So, I just kind of had to adjust my workflow and sort of catch my rhythm in the water. I just had to catch my rhythm.

That’s really what we’re here for is for the album, which has a very interesting title, Light Hit My Skin. Obviously, there’s probably a lot of layers to that. Why don’t you kind of give me a little bit of an overview of what inspired this title and the concept of the album?

It’s so many different types of light. We were listening to “The Madness” and we just keyed in on that line. We’re driving in the car and everybody keyed in on that line. It’s so multi-layered, it has so many different meanings. And I have a lot of different versions of the light that hit my skin, whether it’s on stage or out in the street or whether it’s cop lights cascading over our car or it’s phone flashlights taking pictures with people.

Or even the light in me if you want to get metaphorical. The light that I can shine is who I am and enlightening people. All the different forms of that word really hit me at that moment and it’s something that I referenced a few times in the album. So to me, it’s just all the different situations in which light hits my skin. I’m about to go into the grocery store right now and lights are about to hit my skin, they got fluorescent light in there, and that’s a setting for a story, a moment of life.

I love that you can find so many different ways of looking at such a simple phrase, that really speaks to your gift as a writer, which is one of the things that drew me to you as an artist. Speaking of lines that jump out, one that hit me was about how you used to wear hoop shorts under your jeans on “We Make.” It just sent me right back to my own high school experience.

Oh man, bro, man, that was a thing that we did back in middle school and high school, we stopped sophomore year of high school because we got real lockers. We would hoop before school, you would literally come to school dripped out, shorts on underneath your jeans, come to school a little bit early, take your jeans off.

You might put hoop shoes in your backpack or over your shoulder, the next thing, you’re hooping. And then we hoop for 15 minutes, put your jeans on. We had to buy our jeans a couple of sizes higher. You have to buy thinner shorts.

Those moments help teach you a little bit about who people are. And when you have a confrontation on the court and disagreements or you’re picking teams or you have to take initiative or share with teammates. It was just kind of these young man moments that I had reminisced on that I sometimes see the matured version of them in our culture.

So as an independent artist, you have a lot more control over what you put out and how you put it out. But because it’s coming out of your pocket, you don’t have the budget of a bigger artist. How do you go about executing without really having the same resources as major label artists?

Well, for me, it’s relationships. Keeping those relationships is invaluable because we’re the artists and whether you’re signed to a label or not, real artists can see each other. And so I’m blessed. There are other people that I meet that are blessed to do it that way, musically, whether it’s production or writing or singing or whatever, for the sake of music, I’m keeping them relationships.

I have a very strong core of artists that I’ve been working with and people that support me. And it’s definitely all based on music. Money is secondary, but money has come because of that. As far as reaching out to newer artists like Deante Hitchcock or working with Cantrell or working with Tone Sinatra or working with Duckwrth… I make sure that they’re compensated and make sure that their time is valued.

But first comes first, do they like to record? Do they want to be in this thing? Are they down for the ride of this record? And everybody featured on the project, man, they’re real artists. And so it’s just an honor to work with other people like that.

How have you adapted to not having a tour life over the last year? What’s something that you miss about touring and what something you don’t miss about touring?

Man, touring is this very bittersweet thing, absolutely love and miss traveling in general. The number one aspect of touring is being out with friends — three, four like-minded individuals — experiencing life together at a new point in time. And then when you compound making money and having a reason to be here, it’s amazing.

Traveling is great, but it’s also not great, it’s tiring. Also, “traveling while Black” is a thing, just like “traveling while a woman” is a thing — especially international travel. People look at you, look at what you’re wearing… That could be kind of draining, so that part of travel I don’t miss.

God took it away from all of these artists, all of us for a reason. So we’ll never forget it. That’s how I feel. But, yeah, I miss that and what I’ve been doing to keep things all together is just being like water and learning more to be like water.

The change in sort of workflow for the whole world really has sort of allowed for, I think, me and people like me maybe to focus on what’s in the now. “What can I actually do? What do I need to do? What’s something I need to be doing, what stuff I want to be doing? And how can I get what I need to get done in spite of what’s going on in the world?” And I’ve been learning a lot of stuff through just approaching stuff with that mentality.

As we wrap things up, I always like to ask artists this question because you have to get asked the same questions over and over again. What’s something that you want to talk about that you wish somebody had asked you?

That’s a really good question. I almost want the right person to ask. I want somebody to ask me, or even once someone to have a real, everything-on-the-table conversation about the history of hip-hop and rap music and its impact on the Black community, as far as things that are promoted in the music and how they correlate to health, violence as promoted in the music and how it correlates to crime rates, and trends that occur in the music industry as far as artists who perpetuate certain themes in their music.

Because I believe over time, hip-hop has gotten bloodier and bloodier and there’s been more money put into bloodier and bloodier music. And I don’t have anything against bloody music. It’s not my preferred genre. It’s not my preferred experience. But when something has been systematically controlled by capitalistic entities like major corporations that do billions of dollars in revenue every year and can invest hundreds of millions or 20 to 50 million into the specific genre of music… Maybe you can have conversations. I would just be interested in having that conversation.

Light Hit My Skin is out now on TBKTR. Get it here.

Ariana Grande surprised her fans today with the announcement she would join the judges’ panel on The Voice, replacing Nick Jonas. The singer said she’s “beyond thrilled, honored, [and] excited” to join Blake Shelton, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson on season 21. In joining the cast, she’ll be the second-youngest person to coach the show’s collection of aspiring pop stars after Kelsea Ballerini, who joined in the 15th season and is three months younger than Ariana.

Some might see the move as unusual for Ariana, who is perceived to have a younger fan base than most of the other hosts by far, but perhaps her inclusion will lend some “cool” points to the competition show, which has helped launch the careers of plenty of singers but has yet to generate a ubiquitous pop presence like Kelly Clarkson, whose career started on the first season of American Idol. With her legion of Arianators tuning in, any singer co-signed by Grande will certainly have a leg-up on securing a young, long-term fanbase after the show wraps.

Some fans also view the casting as a savvy move for Grande, who was unable to tour with her most recent album, Positions, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Working on the show could go a long way toward extending her career and expanding her fanbase since she’ll be centrally-located and able to work on music without worrying about performing, while still being visible to the show’s massive audience.

The Voice is currently in its 20th season. The air date for season 21 has yet to be announced.

In what might be the shortest wait yet for reality-warping animated series Rick and Morty, Season 5 is heading to Adult Swim just a little over a year after the conclusion of Season 4. Despite the pandemic, Rick and Morty Season 5 will start airing new episodes on June 20, and it’s already dropped a trailer for the upcoming batch of episodes that’s loaded with mad-cap sci-fi references to Voltron, Blade, and we’re pretty sure there’s a whole Hellraiser thing going on.

As for how Season 5 managed to arrive so quickly despite the show having infamously long waits before seasons, co-creator Dan Harmon revealed back in October that COVID restrictions somehow put Rick and Morty so on schedule, that the creators are actually ahead. Via SyFy:

“We’re more on schedule than we’ve ever been,” he said, admitting that the unprecedented digital workflow caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has actually been extremely beneficial to the show’s creation, while live-action projects have stopped and started. “It kind of makes you have to focus on the whole process when you don’t have this office environment anymore. Everyone has to run this bee colony remotely, so the honey just gets made more consistently. It’s working for us.”

Voice actor Chris Parnell also confirmed that Rick and Morty will have much shorter wait times thanks to creators Harmon and Justin Roiland locking down a 70-episode order from Adult Swim. “We’ll see less lengthy breaks between seasons going forward because of that,” Parnell told TVLine.

Rick and Morty Season 5 premieres June 20 at 11 PM ET/PT on Adult Swim.

(Via Adult Swim)

“Coconut Oil,” Lizzo’s 2016 self-love anthem, is the subject of a lawsuit recently filed by a church elder who claims his voice was sampled on the song without his permission, causing him “anguish, embarrassment, and outrage,” according to The Detroit News (Lizzo was born in the Motor City). Detroit resident Orlandus Dunning demands $750,000, saying that Lizzo sampled him singing a hymn at a mutual relative’s private funeral.

The lawsuit reads, “(Dunning) had a reasonable expectation of privacy and that his voice would not be heard publicly, as the funeral where he sang was held privately and open only to family and close friends… When Plaintiff sang the devotional, it was at a private funeral and done for the specific purpose of uplifting his family and friends during their time of bereavement.” Dunning says that he wouldn’t have consented to the use of his voice because of his beliefs; he’s an ordained elder in the Church of God In Christ and feels that the song’s messaging runs counter to his position — although he doesn’t say exactly how. The song’s mostly about Lizzo learning self-care, although she does say “sh*t” once on the record.

You can hear the song for yourself below.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Mandalorian is currently the only original scripted Star Wars series on Disney+, but over the next couple of years, at least 10 more titles will debut on the streaming service, including The Bad Batch. A spin-off of The Clone Wars (which ended last year), the animated series follows an “elite and experimental” group of clones known as Clone Force 99, or the Bad Batch. There’s Hunter, Echo, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair, who “use their unique talents and specialized physiology to execute extraordinary solutions on the battlefield.” Other familiar Star Wars characters in the action-heavy series include Fennec Shand (played by Ming-Na Wen on The Mandalorian), Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker in Rogue One), and Admiral Tarkin, hopefully complete with CGI stink lines.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Star Wars: The Bad Batch follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch premieres on Tuesday, May 4 (a.k.a. Star Wars Day), with a special 70-minute episode, followed by new episodes every Friday starting on May 7.

Demi Lovato has been open about her sexuality for years now. In her 2017 documentary Simply Complicated, she said, “I am on a dating app with both guys and girls. I am open to human connection, so whether that’s through a male or a female, it doesn’t matter to me.” Now she has offered another update about that part of her life, as she told Joe Rogan on a recent episode of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast that she is pansexual.

Lovato told Rogan she was considering adopting a child and continued, “I also don’t know if I’m going to end up with a guy, so I can’t really see myself maybe getting pregnant. I don’t know. […] I’m so fluid now and a part of the reason why I am so fluid is because I was super closeted off.”

Rogen then interjected to ask if Lovato meant she meant she was sexually fluid and Lovato responded, “Yeah, anything really.” Rogen replied, “What do they call that, like ‘pansexual’ or something like that?” Lovato affirmed, “Yeah. Yeah, pansexual.” She then continued, “I heard someone call the LGBTQIA+ community the ‘alphabet mafia’ and I was like, ‘That’s it, that’s what I’m going with. I’m going with that.’ So I’m a part of the alphabet mafia and proud.”

Check out a clip from the episode below.